Kara was racing to find the girls, the theory swirling around her head dangerously and bursting any shred of calmness left in her mind. This was even more shocking than the whole guardian thing; how? Kara wasn't sure but she ran for it. The others were just getting out of lessons and unfortunately the process of finding four girls was a little bit harder since there were seas of people to get through.
On the other hand of this extensive freak out, Ashley was starting to double over in pain; she was trying really hard to block the remaining three guardians, who still didn't know that she could hear their thoughts. In Kara's case this was even worse than Natalia's incoherent jabbering. Ashley leaned on the side of her locker, casually enough to passers by but Natalia found her and tried to get her to move away from all the noise. The two ducked outside into the school's courtyard. There were hardly any people there and since it was lunch and everyone was in the cafeteria, it was relatively quiet.
"What's going on?" Natalia asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
"It's Kara, I think something's wrong." Ashley explained. She attempted to close her eyes and focus on blocking the noise out but it was too hard since Kara's uncontrollable thoughts were turning into desperate screams. Ashley could hear Cleo's constant train of thought too, though it was much calmer and quieter, like water in a stream, bustling down a mountain. Which left Mei Lin. She had the quietest and nicest head to be in. It was as if you were somewhere in Dr Seuss' faraway dreamland, splashes of colour bursting out of nowhere, where the sun never set, where you'd find rainbows and unicorns flying around. It was a nice contrast to the others.
"Wait- there she is!" Natalia looked past her red haired friend and found Kara practically running to them. The storm in Ashley's head was rearing and roaring, shattering all calmness and bringing in a dark cloud of Kara's personal rain.
"Guys! Where are Cleo and Mei Lin? We need to talk." Kara puffed a little as she neared them. Ashley turned to her and blinked hard to try to focus on her friend without tearing up from the pain and over emotive storm inside her.
"Can you please stop thinking so much?" Ashley pleaded. Kara's thoughts floated away suddenly, leaving only a faint whisper of Cleo's and only the presence of Mei Lin.
"What?"
"I can hear all of us and it's really hurting my brain, just calm your thoughts or block them from me or help me block them." Ashley looked around trying to locate Cleo or Mei Lin.
"Sorry." Kara was utterly confused but decided to just go with it, and shrunk away even more from Ashley's mind. That was odd, why couldn't she feel her presence anymore? She still had a connection with Natalia but Kara was silent.
"I can't hear you at all now. But I can still hear you or feel or whatever." Ashley turned from Kara to Natalia, the two watching her closely in return.
"I don't know, but whatever, we need Cleo and Mei. This is huge." Kara paused a second to look around, at her watch and then she started for the inside of the school. Her legs carried her quickly towards the corridor leading to the canteen. She had a plan. Ashley and Natalia stared after her.
"Well I suppose we should find them then." Ashley nodded in agreement.
Kara made it to her locker in record time. She had waited outside the canteen but he wasn't there. Strange. But she did catch him coming towards her. The Heart lay on her skin, warm and comforting and not to mention, strengthening. Will was within view but he hadn't seen her yet. She busied herself with some book and waited. The boy's arms swayed as he walked, carefree and calm to his locker. Then he registered Kara's presence.
"Hey, Kara." He said. His hands were on the lock, putting in the combination but his mind was totally trained on her; this strange creature and what she would do.
"Hi, so I was wondering, we need to work on that assignment-"
"Oh yeah, the follow up?" he glanced at her. Kara's hair was a little dishevelled from all the running around and it made Will's eyes hesitate before moving back to his locker.
"Yeah, exactly. How about after school, there's a really neat café on Harbour Street, and it's pretty good for studying?" Kara was mentally crossing her fingers. This better work. The boy opened his locker, a hand holding on to the metal tightly as he mulled it over. An opportunity, and she was the one who suggested it. Brilliant. This was easier than he thought.
"Sure, we can go after last period. I'll see you then." Will barely smiled as he left her without waiting for a response. No loopholes to back out. Kara watched him go. The plan was to check whether it had been him, but judging from his response, it was more than likely. Why did he agree, she wondered.
Back in the courtyard, Ashley had managed to locate Mei Lin and had called her to them. It was easy since she was so calm, and understood what was happening immediately when Ashley had said something. Cleo was a little harder to find but since she was walking through one of the corridors passing the courtyard, Natalia spotted her and ran to her. Cleo seemed startled at first but glad that Natalia had come. The two went back to Ashley and Mei, who stood in the same spot, waiting for the gang to get back together.
"Hey, look, this is so cool." Ashley projected herself into Cleo's mind and the fair headed girl all but jumped out of her skin.
"W-what was that?" she gapped.
"Telepathy!" Ashley exclaimed. "I think that's what it's called right?"
"Something like that, I guess." Natalia laughed. At that moment Kara could be spotted bounding towards them. She seemed somewhat calmer but still wildly disturbed.
"Okay, so…" she huffed. "Those footprints we saw under the bridge, we thought maybe someone had seen us. I think it's Will. His shoes matched-"
"Wait a minute- you're assuming it was him because of a pair of shoes?" Natalia asked. Kara stopped short. She realised how bad it looked to the others because they hadn't been there. They hadn't seen the way he smirked at the Heart. He knew, she felt it in her bones. But how to explain to the others.
"Listen, I wouldn't have planned this if I wasn't sure. I asked him to meet somewhere after school, and the bridge is on the way. He might be tempted to go back to the scene, see if we're there. We'll catch him if he does, and let it go if he doesn't appear suspicious."
"Kara, maybe you're overreacting," Mei Lin tried to reason with her. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."
"No, Mei, the way he looked, the way he spoke - I'm sure it was him." she replayed the image of him complimenting the Heart. To her surprise Ashley flinched.
"That's creepy. I agree with Kara." she said. The others looked confused.
"Did you just see that?" Kara turned to Ashley, who nodded.
"You wanted me to though, right? You literally threw the memory at me. I mean figuratively."
"We can do that? Imagine midterms," Natalia trailed off. "Y'all better stay out of my head." she warned.
"Relax, I can't see anything unless you let me. I can only feel your mind being close." Ashley reassured her.
"Fine, so say we catch him, then what? If he's seen us then game over, right?" Mei Lin shrugged.
"Not necessarily," Cleo mused. "I have a mind trick of my own. I hope we don't have to use it."
"Cleo, you're scaring me," Kara watched the blond with concern.
"It's nothing, but I think I could make him forget he saw anything." 4 pairs of eyes widened at her statement. So much for fitting in this time around, Cleo thought.
The clock was ticking ridiculously slowly and it had done so for the past couple of hours or so it seemed to the guardians. The girls had discussed the plan over lunch, relieved that Tia had cheerleading practice instead of being with them, and agreed on details since it was more of a group effort – sure Kara was the leader but that didn't mean she was a dictator of any kind. Besides, five heads were better than one.
A dulled down sound of the bell rang through the school and its students were released for the day. The tension was falling into the guardians' minds, it was their first mission since the portal opening and they couldn't mess it up. They had practised the mind tricks at lunch too – now all of them could pretty much tune into each other's thoughts with only an occasional mistake. However it was up to Cleo to use her power if need be. The idea of the team effort depending on one person's actions scared her, but she had to do this.
Cleo and Mei Lin were going to be the first ones to leave; they would walk the short way to the café…which just so happened to be about two minutes away from their spot under the bridge. Meanwhile, Ashley and Natalia would bike the long way and wait on the other side of the area – it was a huge area with the sizable canal running through it and the huge bridge above it all. The architects of Heatherfield had done a really great deed without realising it since they made it a safe zone with all the coverage.
Kara's grand idea was to corner Will and question him. She had to find out what he knew if he knew anything at all. Then they would stop him from leaving until Cleo told him to forget anything ever happened. There was some scepticism over Cleo's skill and how intrusive it was, since it worked on others but not the guardians themselves, unlike Ashley's skill which only concerned the group. At least they could set boundaries for themselves, but for normal people, they had to be careful.
As Kara walked to meet with Will, it was suddenly not such a great plan after all. What if they were completely wrong? What if it was a coincidence? Was she doing the right thing? It was too late now, they had to do something about it. She thought about what would happen if he started telling people they were some weird pixie things. They'd become a science experiment in no time.
The boy stood half buried in his locker, clearly searching for something. It was just past the chaos of the end of the day but Kara felt like the chaos was only just beginning. The doubt had been forgotten when she saw him.
"Hey, ready?" she perched on the window sill across the narrow corridor. Will turned around and shut the metal door behind him. A small smile flitted across his features as he took a moment to look at her.
"Sure." He and Kara walked somewhat slowly and in silence until they got out into the noise filled main street. Neither dared to say anything. Both were expecting the other to do so. They were suddenly so awkward after starting to get on earlier that day.
"So where did you live before?" Kara went for the obvious questions since Will was still what people called 'new'.
"I lived a couple hours away, y'know Hollowsprings? It's slightly smaller but basically like Heatherfield. I was born here but we moved away for a little while. And now we're back." He seemed wound tight as he answered.
"Right, yeah, my mom lives there now." She had never seen the place itself but heard the name.
"Oh, okay, she and your dad, um?"
"Didn't work." Kara said curtly. She avoided talking about it, she avoided talking about her and this whole thing was about him. What he knew, what he was like and would she feel awful if they had to mind control him-
"Sorry. I guess sometimes things happen and you can't stop it." Will looked ahead as he said it, and something about the light reflecting in his eyes made Kara hesitate – the tone of his voice had changed too. He seemed to understand. It made her wonder if something had happened.
"Yeah. I guess." she replied, absent-mindedly.
After that, the conversation seemed to have died. The other guardians were already in position and waiting but since the two were walking slowly it made it a pain to wait. Something like a jack-in-a-box waiting to spring out and surprise the kids. The lid was not opening soon. Harbour Street came into view and the café was there as promised however Kara didn't point it out to Will, instead she led him the other way. The way towards the trap.
The huge plain of greenery, dust, sand and garbage piles under the bridge came into view soon. Will hadn't said anything when he must have noticed they headed the wrong way. He had walked with Kara like it was no big deal. Kara thought of it like the obedient and oblivious walk of an animal to a slaughter house. She slowed down and stopped. The space between them was three steps or so.
"You seem awfully calm to be in a dark alley with me." Kara remarked. Will turned around, his face unreadable under the darkness of the bridge, the change of light creating shadows across his face.
"I'm calm because I came here to talk too. First things first, how did you figure out I followed you? I'm curious, am I not as stealthy as I think I am?" Will's entire demeanor changed. He talked as if they were friends, bantering between themselves. Kara was shocked at the directness of his question. And confused.
"So you admit you followed my friends and I?" she said.
"I admit that I had to make sure it was you after all. I've been waiting, you see. For you." he added. Kara knew that Will meant for them - 'plural' - but somehow the way he said it made her feel as if he meant specifically her. Her heart dropped in her chest. Kara shook her head; something wasn't adding up. What on Earth was he talking about?
"What do you mean?"
"I can help-"
"Will, you have no idea what you're talking about-"
"No, Kara. You have no idea what I'm talking about. Listen, I'm-"
Will made for a step toward her however she held out the Heart and light flooded into their eyes. His step went backwards instead, careful. The moment was held, neither moving or saying anything. The guardians all in their hiding spots held their breath.
"Stay back or I'll use it." she said. She suddenly didn't trust him at all. Will sighed.
"I'm not the enemy, Kara, I'm-"
Suddenly more light shone in the alley-like underbelly of the bridge. It was brilliant and blue. It came from behind Will, who sensed it and turned. His eyes widened as he saw what formed in front of him; a large blue circle, dark in the middle and light on the outskirts. He didn't have time to think. A huge shadow was formed on the other side of the portal and was coming towards him. This was not part of the plan. The guardians took it as their queue to jump out of their hiding spots. Kara was already shaken from the shock and yelled out.
"Guardians unite!" but it was too late. The thing's hand, a strange brown and grey leather like hand, came through the blue light and grabbed Will before he or the girls could do anything. He struggled and kicked at the hand but nothing was working. Whatever it was, dragged him through, like a rag doll. Mei Lin and Cleo were the closest after they transformed and so dived into the portal after Will. They were followed by Kara, Ashley and Natalia. Through the portal, the girls found themselves in a drying meadow; previously liquid mud, now hardened into new patches of ground complete with fresh sprouts of grass. The trees on the edges leading into the forest hung lamely, their branches barely standing up, as if some invisible force were making them heavy.
The thing that had Will was immediately on the left of the portal, heaving and alone. Will was nowhere to be seen. The thing itself looked like it could have eaten him but that would have been bullshit. Literally. The creature resembled a minotaur; the half man and half bull creature found in ancient Greek mythology but this one was slightly different. Apart from having a bull's head, human torso and bull's hind legs, it had slightly leathery skin all over the human torso, like an alligator, complemented by thick hair or fur on top of it's bull's head. It was no longer sitting – for a second it had been knocked down by something else, but now it was up and looking for the threat. Its ear twitched and the creature headed straight for the girls.
They flew up and out of reach. Ashley swooped down and circled the creature with fire. It was trapped inside a ring of fire. Without a moment's hesitation, the thing walked right out of the fire, unharmed, and looked around again, this time ignoring the guardians. The fire put itself out with Ashley flick of a wrist. The fact that there was such a creature not only astonished the girls but made them wary.
Natalia tried next, putting her hands to the earth, feeling the ground shift and soon saw the work of her magic – thick vines were growing around the creature's legs, holding it in place. It grunted and reached down, ripping the vines and freed himself. It then pulled something from behind its back; leathery hand emerging with an axe. The bull man charged at Natalia. Her eyes widened and she froze. This thing was running at her. With an axe.
"Nat!" someone yelled. Before the creature reached her the axe was blasted out of his hands by some green flash. It came from above the guardians. Another green flash struck the creature and it scrambled away, starting to run limply into the forest. The thing this time was flying above them; it had large black wings and some sort of gold mask. Otherwise it looked like a person. The hair, the body, the clothes. Very human but it clearly wasn't from Earth. It was a flash of green and black as it passed the guardians and went straight for the minotaur-esque creature. It hadn't gotten very far and the flying man swooped down on it. The green flash was seen from where the guardians were, back on the ground next to Natalia. A roar was heard but it was weak and soon it faded. The creature had run away.
It was all too much to believe for the moment. The guardians stood confused in the middle of the meadow. What had just happened? What was the creature? Who was the winged man? Where was Will? Could the winged man have done something to him? Or was it the minotaur?
"What the heck was that thing?" Mei Lin asked. They were staring at where the winged man had disappeared, he wasn't in view but Mei Lin could vaguely hear the beat of his wings.
"You're gonna have to be more specific." Natalia said. She had been so close to death, her hands trembled until she closed them into fists.
"Where's Will?" Kara half said to herself. She turned to her friends and surveyed them. No one was hurt thankfully even though Natalia was still a little shocked. No one answered her question.
"I didn't think those existed. Like the ancient monsters from myths. Meridian must be really messed up or something." Cleo bent down to inspect the dent in the ground the minotaur had left. The others gathered around her. Its hoof was bigger than her fist.
"We're in Meridian?" Ashley asked.
"Yes, you are." A voice said behind them. It was accompanied by the beating of wings and a light thud of someone landing. Everyone tensed as they eyed the winged man from a few metres away. He was tall and well built, with chin length wavy hair but where his face was supposed to be, there was a golden mask with features carved into it. Where his eyes were, there were two holes glowing green. The flashes must have come from there.
"Who are you?" Kara demanded.
"Oh come on, put two and two together,'' he said. His voice was muffled and slightly amused. No one said anything. "So you guys really are the new guardians? Wow, I can't say I'm impressed."
"And what are you supposed to be? A glowing pigeon?" Kara shot back. "What did you do to Will? And what was that thing doing on Earth?"
"Long story but I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet." He tilted his head smugly and crossed his arms in waiting.
"Figure what out?" Mei Lin frowned. In the meantime, Cleo was trying to pry his mind open. He kept blocking her off though.
"Quit it blondie. My mind is a safe." All eyes turned to Cleo who shrunk a tiny bit.
"Listen buddy, we don't have time for games, tell us or else." Ashley's fist lit up in an instant. She wasn't patient but she was also right, they had to get to the bottom of this.
"Fine, I'll tell you, but not 'cause I'm scared, but because y'all are so clueless." The man walked forward and his wings wrapped around himself – within a moment he blurred and morphed into someone very familiar. Will stood in front of the wide eyed guardians.
"See? Bet you feel stupid now." He grinned crookedly. Kara stepped forward but thought better of it and stopped before she did something silly. Like hug him. Or slap him. Or both.
"Who are you really?" she asked. Will felt the cold undertone of her voice and his grin started to fade.
"You're mad at me, huh? Not my fault you didn't want to hear me out back at the bridge." Will lowered his voice and stepped back. He turned back into the winged man. "I'm Shagon."
"Well that totally explains things!" Kara snapped.
"I'll tell you along the way, come on." He gestured toward the forest.
"Way to what?" Ashley glanced back at the portal. It was still there, with them in the middle of the meadow.
"The town of course. Oh yeah, you might want to close that." Will/Shagon pointed to it. "Seriously come on, there's someone you need to meet."
The guardians paused, glancing at each other. Could they just trust him? What other choice did they have? Kara held up the Heart to the portal to close it then turned to follow Will/ Shagon.